Mario looked at the earth below him... It was all flying by so fast, there was the Mushroom Kingdom... and then in the next second it was gone, and he was crossing over the sea to a place he'd never seen before. It had to have been another world, far from his own. He could see a beach appear below him, and then forest of pine trees and then suddenly he stopped above a jungle, where, right in the middle was a clearing where jungle people had built huts. It looked like a tiny little happy village. Mario landed down on the ground in the middle of the village. No one seemed to notice him.
The people wore leaves and plants for clothing, and had different colored markings on their faces.
A scream came from the farthest side of village, bringing the plumber's attention elsewhere. The villager who screamed yelled out something, but Mario was too far away to make out any of the words. Trees from where the villager had come from began to crash to the ground. Villagers began to panic, taking their families and friends and any possesions they could carry. They were leaving their homes. An old man, who seemed almost oblivious to the chaso, emerged from one of the huts and walked quickly inside another. Mario followed him.
Inside the hut Mario saw a woman sitting on a poorly made wooden chair, holding a young girl of about six years old in her lap. A man stood in the corner, and watched his wife and daughter.
"Jena," the old man said, "it has finally come. You must give up the child. You know what will happen if you don't."
The woman began to cry, and her daughter hugged her. "Jena," the old man implored again. "It is for the safety of the tribe!"
Jena rose from her chair set her daughter on the ground. "You will be safe," she said. "You must go with the chief now. He will make sure you are safe."
"Mommy," the little girl insisted, holding on to her mother's leg. Her father stepped away from the corner. "You must listen to your mother."
A roar came from outside, and the chief then grabbed the child's hand and took her away. "We love you so much!" her parents called out to her. The little girl fought the chief, but they left and followed all the other fleeing villagers, leaving the girls parents behind. Suddenly, the world began to fade away...
Mario woke up to the fragrant smell of breakfast. Pancakes and eggs. Luigi always made the best breakfasts. He jumped out of bed, quickly got dressed, and ran downstairs to see Luigi already eating breakfast.
"Morning, bro," Luigi greeted him, and Mario grabbed a plate of breakfast and sat down across from Luigi.
"We got a letter from Princess Peach this morning," Luigi said, shoving around his scrambled eggs. "Toadsworth delivered it himself this morning. She's invited us to go play tennis."
Mario nodded and then took a big bite of syrupy pancakes. "We should leave soon," he remarked. "It's almost eleven."
Luigi set down his fork and said, "That's because you got up late. That's not like you."
"I couldn't sleep last night," Mario said between bites. "I had the weirdest dream. And then I kept waking up and falling back asleep."
"What'd you dream?" Luigi asked.
Mario described his dream and how the villagers all seemed to abandon the girl's parents. "Weird dream," Luigi said, pushing around his eggs, not wanting to eat them. "You must've eaten something wierd last night," Luigi said, referring to what had seemed like the millions of wings Mario had devoured last night in a contest with Wario.
Mario threw a playful look at his younger brother. He picked up a pancake with his fork and pretended to throw it at him. Luigi ducked instinctively, and Mario burst into laughter. "You thought I was going to throw it?"
Luigi narrowed his eyes. "Well, you've done it before, it only figures you'd do it again."
The two plumbers then quickly finished their breakfast and set off towards the castle.
Halfway there, Luigi became paranoid. "Did you hear that?" he asked, looking around wildly through the trees.
"I don't hear anything," Mario said, ignoring him. "You always hear something. Nothing ever happens."
But this time there was a loud crack, and even Mario heard it.
"See!" Luigi pointed out, but Mario quickly quieted him. The two brothers huddled close together, prepared to fight anything that showed itself.
Suddenly, out of the corner of Mario's eyes, Luigi was pulled backwards by some invisible force. Mario blinked, and suddenly there was a bright golden glow around his brother, who was now suspended in the air.
"Mario!" Luigi yelled, frantically trying to kick himself out of the glowing bubble he was trapped in.
Mario ran up and punched the glowing bubble, but it was useless.
Suddenly a tall dark figure walked throw the trees, their hand held up to where Luigi was, as if they were holding Luigi captive. She revealed herself, and Mario noticed the bright red markings across her cheeks, and her brown outfit that seemed itself to come straight from the jungle. She looked like one of the tribal people from his dream.
The girl looked Mario up and down. "Mario bros, I presume?" she asked. "And I'm guessing the one I'm holding in the air is Luigi?"
Mario opened his mouth to say something, but the jungle girl beat him. "The name's Emmy," she said. "And I guess you and your brother were on your way to the Princess's castle? Of course, when are you not?"
Mario ran at her, but suddenly, from behind Emmy, came a power star. The power star came to a sudden stop in front of his face and spread out to a glowing sheet, creating a force field between them. Mario ran into it and fell to the ground.
"Bro!" Luigi called out.
"There's nothing he can do, Luigi," Emmy said. "He's not as strong as you."
Mario managed to get to his feet. "Let go of my brother!" he demanded.
Emmy sneered. "Why? He's stronger than you. I'd rather have him. That's what I never got about you two. Why brave and strong, but irrational Mario went after Bowser, when the cowardly, yet smarter Luigi could have done the job a thousand times better." She looked up at Luigi. "All he needs is a little encouragement, no?"
"Get me out of here, Mario!" Luigi said, becoming quite panicked.
"I'm afraid that's not possible, Luigi," Emmy said. "You'll be coming with me."
Emmy lowered her hand, and the force field between Emmy and Mario disappeared, and the power star returned to Emmy. Mario took this chance to attack and ran at Emmy, but before he could blink, he was thrown to the ground. Emmy had barely moved.
"You can't beat me, Mario," she said. "Luigi and I will be leaving now. We have a date with Bowser!"
At the mention of Bowser's name, both Luigi and Mario's eyes widened. "No!" they yelled simultaneously.
"Whose power stars?" Mario asked, as he watched his brother being taken away. Emmy turned around and faced him. She sneered again. "You might want to ask your friend Peach. She was kind enough to let me… borrow, them." She put up a force field around herself and Luigi with another power star—Luigi was still hovering in the air in his own bubble, though—and then faced Mario again. "If you wish," she began. "You can see your brother off?"
"It might be a trap!" Luigi screamed. "Don't do it Mario; I'll be fine. Go to the castle!"
Emmy didn't say anything except, "He's right, Mario. He'll be fine. I'll bet my life on that. As for it being a trap…"
Luigi nodded. "Go make sure everything is okay at the castle first. I can fend for myself. Go!"
"Why are you taking him?" Mario asked, hoping to gain more knowledge on what was going on exactly.
Emmy looked at Mario with a longing and sad stare. "Because, Mario. A long time ago, when I was little, you kidnapped my parents."
"What?" Luigi exclaimed. "Mario would never—"
"But he did!"
"I promise you, I didn't," Mario said.
Emmy said quickly, "Luigi and I are going to go have a chat with Bowser now. If you wish, you can end this whole thing and give me my parents right now."
Mario was at a loss for words.
"Well, then," Emmy said. "When you're ready, you can find me at Bowser's castle across the worlds. Next time I see you, you better have my parents with you. Now, are you going to see your brother off?"
"Don't do it, Mario!" Luigi said. "Please, Mario. It'll be worse if we're both captured. Go to the castle! I can look out for myself."
Mario looked at his younger brother and knew he was right. Luigi, surprisingly, could take care of himself. "I'll come back for you!" he said.
"We're off!" Emmy said, raising her eyebrows, and began to walk away with Luigi and the power stars.
"I love you, bro!" Mario called out, as he began to walk slowly towards the direction of the castle. He heard Luigi call out something else, but he was too far away to hear just what it was.
Mario managed to tear himself away from the scene and run quickly towards the castle.